The benefits of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) persist years after the first treatment with the drug (also known as ecstasy), according to a follow-up study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology1.

The finding gives hope to people with PTSD who do not respond to conventional treatments. However, the results come from a small-scale pilot study, and the outcomes have not been so convincing in other recently published work.

In the original trial, 20 patients with PTSD who had not responded to either psychotherapy or to conventional psychopharmacological drugs received MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine) or a placebo during two eight-hour psychotherapy sessions2. The results showed a spectacular 83% response rate in the MDMA group, compared with 25% in the placebo group. A response was defined as a greater than 30% reduction in a standard measure of symptom severity, the clinician-administered PTSD scale (CAPS) (see 'Illegal drug shows promise in treating trauma symptoms'). The researchers think that MDMA decreases levels of fear and defensiveness and increases trust between patient and practitioner when used in a clinical setting......

Thank you General Patton for your night soil of a large male water buffalo opinion.

Whether it is called PTSD, combat fatigue, shell shock, or le cafard; it has been with us as long as there has been war. Although it did become more prevalent since WW1 with the 24/7 nature of modern war.

10
posted on 11/21/2012 12:19:58 PM PST
by fireforeffect
(A kind word and a 2x4, gets you more than just a kind word.)

“Funny how generations of fighting men returned home and lived normal lives,”

I know some WWII and Korea vets that had/have serious problems getting back into the peacetime world.

Just because the problem was identified and people started to do something about it after Viet Nam does not mean that the problem didn’t exist prior to that.

Parkinson’s disease was formally recognized in 1817 and cholera in 1849- that does not mean that nobody got it before that.

I have a relative who was in a house that a tornado struck, and she was diagnosed with PTSD due to lingering problems. She never really felt secure in a house until she got some treatment, she frequently felt that a house was not a safe place, since the one she was in went all matchsticks in a few seconds.

As a former casemanager, I believe that going to a therapist for counseling works wonders for emotional problems, but psychotropic drugs are usually needed for deep-seated mental disorders such as schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, etc.

I think this other stuff is just an excuse to peddle more drugs, just like everything from fat to sex is a disease. There are no “magic pills”, no matter what the drug-du-jour is. Taking prescription or illicit drugs is an individual choice-I personally never touch drugs and believe them harmful, but to each their own...

Whether it is called PTSD, combat fatigue, shell shock, or le cafard; it has been with us as long as there has been war. Although it did become more prevalent since WW1 with the 24/7 nature of modern war.

George Carlin was right, perhaps if we still called it "Shell Shock" instead of watering down the language and calling it PTSD, Vets would have gotten better help.

Sometime, ask military home from Iraq or Afghanistan how many tours they have seen. These soldiers usually see at least three tours of duty. That’s much more than we have required for previous warriors. I doubt y.ou know any or, care to know any.

The problem as I see it is that PTSD applies to a car wreck or combat. Post Combat Stress Disorder?

I think Combat Fatigue is actually the best term. If you have read Dave Grossman’s On Killing, it can be caused by the cumulative effects of repeated exposure to combat stress. It all depends on how big your it don't mean nothing reservoir is.

15
posted on 11/21/2012 12:33:09 PM PST
by fireforeffect
(A kind word and a 2x4, gets you more than just a kind word.)

I can only imagine. I had a tornado pass very close to my house while I was at my office years ago, and (foolishly in hindsight) rushed home to check on my dogs and my neighbors. Insulation in the trees, branches and such down but no damage, the damage was a quarter mile away.

The dogs were scared of storms from then on when they weren’t before, and it was close to a year for me to not feel nauseated when the emergency alert system screeched on radio or television.

Consider the fact that, since Vietnam, we have fought total-war opponents with “enlightened” ROE. I could see a connection with sending soldiers to places as targets while hamstringing their ability to defend themselves might make for a real PTS disorder.

17
posted on 11/21/2012 12:38:55 PM PST
by MortMan
(I will be true to my principles.)

PTSD is real. Our veterans today are asked to do more than in previous conflicts. The rules of engagemnt have changed. Days of kill them and let God sort them out will get you a trial for war crimes. A threat assessment must be performed on every target.

They are asked walk openly in the streets in hostile areas to draw fire. Forward operating locations are under contant attack. How would you like to firefight your way to the mess tent EVERY day?

IEDs are maiming our soldiers every day. The VA system is being overwelmed with multiple amputee and head trauma patients.

If you ever talk to anyone who has PTSD they have a problem “turning the switch off.” They have spent so much time in combat situations under extreme stress that they have switched to high alert mentally and can’t reverse it because they believe it will get them killed.

MrT5 was there, and several other places in his 30 years of service. He was right, I think in saying that if the govermnment wanted enemies to brought to heel alive, they should send in diplomats/UN, but not soldiers. Soldiers are trained to make enemies dead and win wars-to expect them to do otherwise is an unfair burden, and certain to cause damage.

Shrink here. Lots of irrational, ignorance-based disrespect painted with an all-inclusive brush here on FR for folks like me, so flame away if you must. But . . .

PTSD causes demonstrable, lasting changes in the brain and body. Do a google search on the hypothalamic-pitutary-adrenal axis in PTSD.

MDMA and other psychedelics have a rich but inconclusive body of literature regarding potential therapeutic uses in my field. Headlines like this are dramatic, but the truth is that such statements can not be made with any scientific certainty until there is a much larger body of literature citing well-designed experiments, and in this field that is a monumental task from the standpoint of funding, legalities, politics, study design and analysis.

22
posted on 11/21/2012 1:51:04 PM PST
by dagogo redux
(A whiff of primitive spirits in the air, harbingers of an impending descent into the feral.)

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